January 2010

Two wastewater pump stations in West Seattle are again operating normally after a freak tide surge forced water from Puget Sound into the sewer system, straining capacity at one station and causing a possible overflow at another.

It’s believed that a higher than normal tide combined with a strong low pressure weather system created a tide surge that pushed sea water into King County’s Barton Pump Station on the north side of the Fauntleroy ferry dock about 7:30 a.m.

The deluged Barton station forced high volumes of sea water and wastewater through a 6,250-foot pipeline to the county’s Murray Avenue Pump Station at Lowman Beach Park, where operators at King County’s South Treatment Plant in Renton detected a possible overflow shortly after 8 a.m.

Wastewater Treatment Division crews responding to the overflow alert reported that the tide was the highest they’d ever seen near the pump station. Crews are unable to determine at this time if any raw sewage overflowed from the inundated pump station into Puget Sound and will continue investigating.

There was sadness on the face of Roy Lynch, a 25-year employee at Sunset Bowl, as the vacant bowling alley was torn down Jan. 20 to make way for the six-story, mixed-use Avalon Ballard apartments.

"It's really depressing," said Lynch, a former graveyard-shift manager. "This was my first place of everything. I asked my first wife to marry me there. It was my home."

Lynch and dozens others, including many former employees, watched as demolition began on the 51-year-old Sunset Bowl at shortly after 1 p.m. on Jan. 20.

Demolition was meant to began Jan. 19, but was delayed. A crew member said it will take three to four days to fully demolish the building.

Hours before Sunset Bowl came down, Lynch and other former employees and family were allowed to take one last visit inside the building.

Lynch said he wanted to take a final look inside and also grab a few remnants, such as tinted windows for his van.

"It's sad," he said. "It's gutted. It's not how I remember it."

Lynch's Jan. 20 tour wasn't his first trip inside the shuttered Sunset Bowl.

Faustine Hudson, a local musician, was, like many others, affected by the Jan. 12 earthquake that struck Haiti.

She said her feelings came not only from that tragedy, but from the culmination of a handful of international tragedies in the past decade.

"After reading about the earthquake, my heart hurt a lot," Hudson said.

She said she felt like she needed to do something, and for someone as submerged in music as she is, putting on a benefit show was the obvious choice.

"Not being a doctor or a nurse, I can't do anything hands on to help," Hudson said. "But, I can raise money for people doing hands on stuff."

The Luvin' Haiti benefit show will be held Jan. 31 at the Tractor Tavern. It features The Tripwires, The Cute Lepers, Whalebones and Eugene Wendell & the Demon Rind.

There is a $10 suggested donation, and 100 percent of the proceeds will go to the Red Cross for Haitian relief and development.

Ryan Ellis, general manager at the Tractor Tavern, said the venue is happy to host the event to help the community realize that just because a tragedy isn't local, doesn't mean it doesn't affect everyone.

Family tradition took Erika Bergstrom, a West Seattle veterinarian, away from the animals to spend a long day and evening enjoying the Christmas tradition of her boyfriend, Michael Master’s family. Each year, Michael, his parents Robin and Mike and his brother Ryan set out to visit all the great things downtown Seattle has to offer in the way of Christmas tradition.

This year led to an after-Christmas gift when Bergstrom and her family won Providence O’Christmas Trees’ Tour of Tree contest, which Ryan learned about from an article he read. They found all seven trees scattered throughout downtown Seattle, made sure to have their Tour of Trees Passports stamped, and turned in the Passport for a chance to win a $1,000 shopping spree at Pacific Place.

It capped off a tradition that goes back more than 20 years. Each Christmas season, the family sets aside a day to head downtown and “Do Christmas.” Bergstrom joined in this family tradition last year and looked forward to spending this special day with the Masters family again this season.

The Non Profit Assistance Center in collaboration with the White Center Community Development Association are behind an effort called Project Empower which is a 12 - month collaborative project designed to strengthen the infrastructure and program delivery capacity of 15 faith and community based organizations selected through an open and competitive process.

Organizations selected will receive a package of on-site, individualized, culturally - competent, capacity building technical assistance that builds on existing assets while addressing the four core areas of
1) Leadership Development;
2) Organizational Development;
3) Program Development; and
4) Community Engagement.

In addition to the array of capacity building TA, the 15 organizations selected through the RFI will receive a grant of $10,000 - $15,000, which is to be used to support specific capacity building goals.

Request for Investment (RFI) to Strengthen the Organizational Capacity of Small Grassroots Faith and Community based Nonprofits

First-place Skyline was too much for the Ballard High School boys basketball team to handle, pulling away down the stretch for a 55-46 win Jan. 19.

The Beavers hung with Skyline in the first half but fell behind in the third quarter and couldn't recover.

Ballard coach Billy Rodgers said good defense and some big shots from Brad Baker helped the Beavers in the first half, but poor rebounding hurt the team later in the game.

Ballard gave up second-change baskets and struggled a bit on offense missing easy shots in the second half, Rodgers said.

"When you play a good team, you have to take advantage of your opportunities," he said. "We did not do that."

Ballard was led by seniors Kyler Korsmo and Gary Smith, who scored 12 and 10 points respectively.

The Beavers fell to 3-6 in KingCo and 4-9 overall.

Ballard has seven games remaining, and Rodgers said the first order of business is to get a win and go from there.

"I think this team has a playoff push left in us," he said. "I still like my kids. I think we are going to finish strong."

Ballard has a rematch with Inglemoor, who defeated the Beavers 55-54 Dec. 8, at 8 p.m. on Jan. 22 at Ballard High School.

Whistle Workwear, offering high quality work clothes and footwear is set to open as soon as this weekend at 3408 1st Avenue South in the former Mattress Warehouse location. "We plan on having our 'Soft Open' this weekend, depending on permits," Manager Jeremy Kramer said. The company carries brands such as Carhartt (men's and women's), Dickies, Riggs, Key, LaCrosse, Occunomix, 2W, Viking, Grundens, and many more.

There's an emphasis on boots and high quality footwear in brands such as Timberland, Danner, Georgia, Wolverine, Cat, Merrell, and White's Boots. They also carry women's boots in those same brands.

Whistle Workwear is a group of retail stores that supply merchandise to the American Worker. They have seven Western Washington stores including Bellingham, Everett, Tacoma, Puyallup, Silverdale, Olympia and a Tukwila store.

Hours of Operation:
Mon-Fri 9-7
Sat 10-6
Sun 11-6

West Seattle High School Wildcats and the Chief Sealth High School Seahawks battled it out last night, with West Seattle falling to Chief Sealth in the final seconds of the game, 37-36.
Chief Sealth took off with an early lead in the first quarter of the game, but West Seattle was never far behind. West Seattle senior guard Joe Bell Austin scored a two pointer right before the half, tying the game 14-14.

In the beginning of the second half Chief Sealth dominated West Seattle, who only scored four points in the third quarter. West Seattle, however, rallied for a comeback, scoring 18 points in the fourth quarter.

With 30 seconds left in the game, Chief Sealth up two points 33-35, Joe Bell Austin shot a three pointer, giving West Seattle the lead for the first time in the game. The score 36-35, Chief Sealth fouled De’Andre Coulter, who did not make his free throw.
Just before the clock ran out, literally as the clock was buzzing West Seattle freshman guard LaTrey Newsome fouled Chief Sealth junior guard Keon Lewis. He sank the two free throws he was given, returning the lead to Chief Sealth 36-37.

There are nearly 10 rugby teams in the Seattle area, but only one “Quake.” Three out of four on that team’s roster are gay, and all players are encouraged to participate in community fundraising and awareness of gay-related issues. Four team members live in West Seattle, and while the Quake plays its home games in Magnuson Park, it practices in Hiawatha Field near the Admiral Junction.

The Seattle Quake organized in 2002, has over 40 players from novice to experienced, and competes in Division III of the Pacific Northwest Rugby Football Union, with two playing seasons of seven games each in spring and fall. It also plays “friendly” matches, or non-tournament games. The non-profit amateur organization is, according to its website, “a hooligan’s sport played by gentleman.”

“We are proving that gay men can play sports just as well as straight men and can compete on the same level,” said Jeff Wilson, club president. “We break the stereotype that the only sports for gays to compete in are ballet and figure skating.”

West Woodland Elementary is celebrating its 100-year anniversary this month and is looking for graduates and staff from the past century to help them celebrate.

The school is asking willing graduates and staff from its history to allow themselves to be interviewed by current West Woodland students for an anthology that will be published with a grant from the Seattle Eduction Foundation and the Foundation House at Northgate.

West Woodland Principal Marilyn Loveness said she hopes to have at least one graduate to represent every decade of the school's history.

Graduates and former staff will meet at the school at 8:45 a.m. on Jan. 26 for a tour. At 9:40 a.m., they will be sent to classrooms to be interviewed by current students.

Students will have prepared questions, but visitors are encouraged to bring their own stories, too.

Any interested graduates or staff who cannot attend Jan. 26 are still invited to contact the school for participation in the project.

West Woodland, located at 5601 Fourth Ave. N.W., also welcomes donations of pictures or other mementos for the project.